An Observation on Halls of Fame Electors

Sometime this afternoon, the results of the balloting for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced, and in a few weeks, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will also elect new members.

Coupled with these announcements will be some serious bloviating by the sportswriters who vote on these things.  It has started already with the self-important gasbag from MLB.com who has already announced why he did not vote for Greg Maddux.

The Cardinals of the Catholic Church who elect a Pope do not take themselves as serious as do Buster Olney, Peter Gammons, Peter King and others of their ilk.

Book Review: "Their Life's Work"

Got my reading for 2014 off with a bang with "Their Life's Work" by Gary M. Pomerantz.  The subtitle of this book says it all: "The Brotherhood of the 1970's Pittsburgh Steelers, Then and Now."

Now, when I first became aware of this book a few months back, I thought that it would be yet another regurgitation of facts and stories of the  Super Bowl Seventies Steelers.  You know, kind of like the endless stories we've all heard a million times over the years.  However, as I read the reviews of this book in recent months, it prompted me to put this book on my Christmas wish list, and Santa Marilyn came through.


Some reviewers have likened this book to a football version of Roger Kahn's classic baseball book, "The Boys of Summer", and it is an apt analogy.  Like Kahn did with the 1950's Brooklyn Dodgers, Pomerantz tells the story of the Steelers in their glory days, and then revisits many of the players in the current day.  Pomerantz is a national writer and author. He cut his teeth as a sports writer with the Washington Post and later as a general assignment reported with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.  I think what makes this book special, besides the fact that he is a gifted writer, is the fact that Pomerantz is not a local guy who covered the team in its heyday.  This makes the point that the Steelers of those years were indeed special on a national and league-wide level to the point that they are an historic team.  And he gives a perspective on such people as Art Rooney, Chuck Noll, Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and others that were new to me.  Sometimes, I think that we in Pittsburgh are so close to the Steelers of that era that we can't appreciate just what they mean on a national level.

Pomerantz does not give a game-by-game summary of all the events of those six magical seasons.  In fact, he goes into detail on only three specific games: the Immaculate Reception game in 1972, the 1974 AFC title game with the Raiders, and the first Super Bowl win against the Vikings.  Each game is covered in about half dozen pages or so, but written in a such a way that those games that are so familiar to Steelers fans will seem new and fresh to the reader.

The book concentrates on the present day lives of four Steelers: Greene, Bradshaw, Harris, and John Stallworth, but in those chapters, you will also learn about the lives of all of the other big names from those teams.  Pomerantz also does not sugarcoat the down side of life that these players experienced, specifically the trauma and tragedy that was the life and death of Mike Webster.

Lots stand out to me from reading this book, but I will just highlight two of them.  One, that Chuck Noll was and remains a towering presence in the lives of all of these players, and two, the absolute heart and soul of those Steelers was Joe Greene.  No one else was even a close second.

You don't have to be a Steelers fan to like this book. It is that good.  And if you are a Steelers fan, it is an absolute must read.

I will close with just one passage, among many, in the book that stood out to me.  It describes Joe Greene on December 20, 1981, the day he decided to retire:

In the Astrodome that day, with both teams out of the playoffs, the thirty-five year old Greene played his 181st regular season game. He became wistful as he took in the scene one last time. He realized that the game carried no real meaning other than it being his last. Greene thought, Can you imagine playing games like this your whole career? What a sad statement that would be.

Terrific book.

Pittsburgh Football in 2013 - A Final Look Back

Before we get too immersed in the NFL Playoffs and Monday's BCS title game, a final look back (and a tentative look forward) on the local scene.

STEELERS

If you are really interested, you can see what I had prognosticated for the 2013 Steelers back in September here:

http://www.grandstander.blogspot.com/2013/09/its-steelers-time.html

If I say so myself, I think I was pretty perspicacious in my predictions.  However, if you don't want to read the whole post from five months ago, here is the relevant passage:

As for 2013, I see the team being anywhere from 7-9 to 9-7 and not making the Playoffs this year.  I see Baltimore winning the AFC North with the Bengals - I can't believe I'm saying this - finishing ahead of the Steelers, who will still be better than the Browns.

Well, the Steelers finished 8-8, so I was on target there.  Yeah, yeah, I know, I was way wrong about the Ravens, who failed to make the playoffs.

This is the second year in a row that the Steelers went 8-8.  In 2012, they started 7-2 and then crashed and burned , going 1-6 in the final seven games.  This year, as we all know, they started 0-4, then rallied to go 8-4 in the final twelve games.  What to make of that?  Nothing, because 8-8 is the very definition of mediocre, and, essentially, that is what the Steelers have been for the last two years.  I think it would be a mistake for anyone to think that that nice 8-4 finish means that things are okay with the Steelers going into next year.

On the positive side, the Steelers seem to be a good offensive team.  Ben Roethlisberger remains a franchise quarterback, and Le'Veon Bell came on strong after he got healthy and looks to be a Grade-A running back.  Despite everyone's constant bitching about OC Todd Haley, the Steelers problems do NOT appear to be on that side of the ball.

The Steelers defense continues to age and continued a trend from '12 of not being able to hold fourth quarter leads.  Can that ship be turned around for the 2014 season?  That is the big question in my mind as the off-season gets underway for Rooney U.

PITT

You can make all the fun you want about a win over a MAC team in a minor league bowl game, but the Panthers victory over Bowling Green in the Pizza Pizza Bowl, was impressive and, I think, important to the team as they closed out a season that sent somewhat mixed messages.  (In addition to that, it was an entertaining and fun game to watch!)  The fact of the matter is that Pitt did NOT win those minor league bowl games the prior two seasons, so that alone makes the Pizza Pizza win a good one.

As the guys in the ticket group I am in watched Pitt throughout the season, we kept wondering just what kind of team they were.  Well, they finished 7-6, won a game or two we didn't expect (Notre Dame) and lost some they should have won (Navy, North Carolina).  As my expert on all things Pitt (Dan Bonk) said prior to the season, "if they win seven games, that would be a good season for them." So, there you are.

I keep thinking that 19 freshman received significant playing time for Pitt this year, and I'll be optimistic and say that that augers well for the future.

I will say that Pitt fans had better enjoy and appreciate Tyler Boyd in 2014, as I am sure that he will be gone to the NFL as soon as rules allow him to opt for the NFL draft.  He is a remarkable football player.

PENN STATE

I have decided not to comment in this forum on what has gone on there this past week.  Still too touchy and emotional an issue, and I'm just going to let it lay there.  

NFL Playoff Predictions

As I have done in previous years, I shall predict the NFL Playoff contests, week by week.

Here you go:

Colts over Chiefs.  Have the Chiefs actually beaten a good team all season?

Eagles over Saints.  N.O. can't get it done outside in cold weather.

Packers over 49ers.  Aaron Rogers is back. Need I say more?

Chargers over Bengals.  All logic says that the Bengals will win this one, but when all is said and done, they are the Cincinnati Bengals.  If ever there was a game that BOTH teams could lose, however, this on is it.

As always, watch, but don't bet!

To Absent Friends: Phil Everly

The first Absent Friend of 2014 is Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers singing duo, one of the great rock & roll acts of the late 1950's and early 1960's.  Phil passed away yesterday at the age of 74.

In 2004, when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel reunited for their Old Friends Tour, they included The Everly Brothers as a part of their concert program, and in his introduction of them to the audience, Paul Simon cited them as their heroes and a "major influence" on the young Simon and Garfunkel.  Pretty strong praise, and acts such as The Beatles and the Beach Boys also include the Everly Brothers as major influences on their music as well.

Marilyn and I consider us very fortunate to be at the Civic Arena in June, 2004 to see The Everly Brothers performing with Simon and Garfunkel during that tour.

The Brothers hits are many (and they are great) - Cathy's Clown, Wake Up Little Susie, Bye Bye Love, All I Have to Do Is Dream, Cryin' In the Rain, and I could go on and on.  In fact, they still hold the record for most Billboard Top 100 singles charted by a singing duo.  Here is one of my favorites, performed by the Brothers in 1983:




Listen to The Everly Brothers today.  They are easy enough to find in iTunes and YouTube.   You won't regret it.

RIP Phil Everly.

Something to Look Forward To in 2014

In February, the Winter Olympics will take place in Sochi, Russia.  You know what that means, don't you?

CURLING IS BACK, BABY!!!!

I can't wait!

Movie Review: "Saving Mr. Banks" and Other Thoughts

The first Grandstander post of 2014 actually should have been written last night, but what the heck.  

Marilyn and I fulfilled our New Year's Eve tradition of attending a movie and dining on Kentucky Fried Chicken afterwards.  You just can't top some traditions!  This custom was started, by the way, back on New Year's Eve, 1990 when we both got home from work early, and decided to take in a movie, "Home Alone".  Since then, that has been the drill.  Wish I could remember what each of those 24 movies has been.  I know that they included such flicks as "Titanic", "Silver Linings Playbook", and "True Grit".  I know that there have been more memorable ones among the list, but I'm drawing a blank for now.

Anyway, last night's offering was "Saving Mr. Banks", the story of the difficult road traveled by Walt Disney and his movie studio in dealing with author P.L. Travers as they were trying to make the classic movie "Mary Poppins".  While I had read the reviews and had an idea what it was about, I didn't expect the emotional wallop that this movie would deliver.  Very good to excellent movie, and Tom Hanks as Disney and Emma Thompson as Travers were, as always, terrific in their roles. How great is Tom Hanks? Surely one of the best actors of his generation.  And for good measure, throw in Paul Giamatti, also one of the greats of his generation, in a wonderful supporting role.

I suppose that now I will have to see "Mary Poppins", which, believe it or not, I have never seen.

While New Year's Eve has passed, if you are looking for a movie with a New Year's Eve theme, it's still not too late to watch one of the following (see, I told you this post should have been written yesterday)......

• "Ocean's Eleven", the original one with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and the rest of the Rat Pack.  The gang plans a heist of five Las Vegas casinos on New Year's Eve.
• "Radio Days".  Woody Allen's terrific memoir of old time radio and growing up in Brooklyn concludes with a New Year's Eve scene.
• "Sunset Boulevard", Billy Wilder's great movie about Hollywood contains a pivotal scene involving a New Year's Eve party planned by Norma Desmond.

Of course, these are all great movies to see, no matter what time of the year you might watch them.

Have a great 2014, everyone, and start it off by seeing "Saving Mr. Banks".